Human Resource Management

10th Edition
Chapter 11
A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORK
ENVIRONMENT

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-1

 HRM in Action: A New Security
Threat: Identity Theft
• Emerged as the dominant crime of 21st
century
• Losses from identity fraud totaling $52.6
billion and affecting 9.3 million people
each year
• Identity thieves are now contacting job
hunters who have posted résumés on
Web sites
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-2
The Nature and Role of
Safety and Health

Safety - Protecting employees

from injuries caused by
work-related accidents
Health - Employees' freedom
from physical or emotional
illness

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-3

 Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
created the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
• Aims to ensure worker safety and health in U.S.
by working with employers and employees to
create better working environments
• Act requires employers to provide employees a
safe and healthy place to work and this
responsibility extends to providing safe
employees

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-4

 General Duty Clause

Employers have responsibility to

furnish a workplace free from
recognized hazards that are
causing or are likely to cause
death or serious physical harm

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 Current Mission of OSHA
• Reduce occupational hazards through
direct intervention
• Promote a safe and healthy culture
through compliance assistance,
cooperative programs and strong
leadership
• Maximize OSHA’s effectiveness and
efficiency by strengthening its capabilities
and infrastructure
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-6
 OSHA’s Changing Role

• Give employers choice between

partnership and traditional
enforcement
• Inject common sense into
regulation and enforcement
• Eliminate red tape

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 Possible Financial Penalties
• Serious hazard citation has maximum
penalty of $7,000
• Willful citation might have a maximum
amount of $70,000 per violation
• If 10 employees were exposed to one
hazard the employer intentionally did not
eliminate, the penalty amount would
immediately jump to $700,000

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-8

 Those Who Repeatedly Violate
Health and Safety Standards

• Authorized stricter enforcement measures

• Increase oversight of firms that have
received high gravity citations
• Mount criminal prosecutions against
employers where fatalities are involved

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-9

 OSHA Inspection
• Average employer will not likely see
OSHA inspector unless employee
instigates an inspection
• 70% of OSHA inspections resulted from
employee complaints
• Employer has option of denying inspector
access to work site - Required to get a
warrant

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Employee Can Legally Refuse to
Work When
• Employee reasonably fears death,
disease, or serious physical harm.
• Harm is imminent.
• Too little time to file an OSHA complaint
and get problem corrected.
• Worker has notified employer about
condition and requested correction, but
employer has not taken action
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-11
 Perceptions of OSHA

• Have not always been positive

• OSHA has overcome most of past
criticisms
• 87% of workers and employers rated
OSHA staff professionalism,
competence, and knowledge as
satisfactory

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-12

Safety: Economic Impact
• Job-related deaths and
injuries extract high toll in
terms of human misery
• Significant costs passed
along to consumer
• Everyone affected (directly
or indirectly) by deaths and
injuries

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-13

 Focus of Safety Programs
1. Unsafe employee actions - Create
psychological environment and
employee attitudes that promote
safety
2. Unsafe working conditions - Develop
and maintain safe physical working
environment

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Reasons for Management Support of
Safety Program
• Personal loss.

• Financial loss to injured employees.

• Lost productivity.

• Higher insurance premiums

• Possibility of fines and imprisonment.

• Social responsibility.
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-15
 Developing a Safety Program
• Job hazard analysis - Key to determining
and implementing the necessary controls,
procedures and training
• Superfund Amendments Reauthorization
Act, Title III (SARA) - Requires businesses
to communicate more openly about
hazards associated with materials they
use and produce and wastes they
generate

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-16

 Developing a Safety Program
(Cont.)
• Employee involvement – Include
employees, gives sense of
accomplishment
• Safety engineer - Staff member who
coordinates overall safety program
• Accident investigation - Safety engineer
and line manager investigate accidents
• Evaluate safety program
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-17
Evaluation of Safety Programs

• Reduction in
frequency and
severity of injuries
and illnesses
• Effective reporting
system is needed

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Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI)
• Group of conditions caused by
placing too much stress on
joint and happens when same
action is performed repeatedly
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
- Results from pressure on
median nerve in wrist due to
repetitive flexing and extending
of wrist

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-19

 Ergonomics
• Study of human interaction with tasks,
equipment, tools and physical environment
• Congress and OSHA - Congress
rescinded OSHA’s ergonomics standards
in 2001– OSHA to develop new standards
• Ergonomics payoff - Clear payoff in using
ergonomics

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-20

 Workplace Violence

• Vulnerable employees
• Vulnerable organizations
• Legal consequences of workplace
violence
• Individual and organizational
characteristics to monitor
• Preventive actions
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Vulnerable Employees

• Gas stations and

liquor stores
• Taxi drivers
• Police officers
working night shifts

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-22

 Legal Consequences of
Workplace Violence

• Ever-present threat of legal action

• Negligent hiring
• Negligent retention

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 Vulnerable Organizations
• Chronic labor/management disputes
• Frequent grievances filed by employees
• Large number of workers’ compensation
injury claims
• Understaffing and excessive demands for
overtime in an authoritarian management
style

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-24

Legal Consequences of Workplace
Violence
• Civil lawsuits claiming negligent hiring or
negligent retention account for more than
half of estimated $36 billion a year costs
to businesses
• Negligent retention - Occurs when
company keeps persons on payroll
whose records indicate strong potential
for wrongdoing and fails to take steps to
defuse a possible violent situation
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-25
Individual and Organizational
Characteristics to Monitor
• Screaming
• Explosive outburst
over minor
disagreements
• Making off-color
remarks
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 Individual and Organizational
Characteristics to Monitor (Cont.)

• Crying
• Decreased energy or focus
• Deteriorating work performance and
personal appearance
• Become reclusive

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-27

 Preventive Actions
• Ban weapons on company property,
including parking lots
• Under suspicious circumstances, require
employees to submit to weapons searches
or examinations for mental fitness for work
• Policy of zero tolerance toward violence or
threats of violence
• Have employees report all suspicious or
violent activity
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-28
 Preventive Actions (Cont.)
• Relationships with mental health experts
for recommendations in dealing with
emergency situations
• Train managers and receptionists to
recognize warning signs of violence and
techniques to diffuse violent situations
• Equip receptionists with panic buttons to
alert security instantly

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-29

Domestic Violence

• Spillover from domestic

violence is unexpected threat
in workplace, both to women
and their companies
• Costs employers $3 to $5
billion annually in higher
turnover, lower productivity,
and health and safety
expenses

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-30

 Nature of Stress
• Body’s nonspecific reaction to any
demand made on it
• Potential consequences - Diseases
that are leading causes of death, may
even lead to suicide
• Stressful jobs - Lack of employee
control over work
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-31
 Twelve Jobs with Most Stress

1. Laborer 7. Manager/
2. Administrative Administrator
Assistant 8. Waitress/Waiter
3. Inspector 9. Machine
4. Clinical Lab Operator
Technician 10. Farm Owner
5. Office Manager 11. Miner
6. Foreman 12. Painter
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-32
Sources of Stress

• Organizational
Factors
• Personal
Factors
• General
Environment

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Organizational Factors

• Corporate
Culture
• The Job Itself
• Working
Conditions

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Personal Factors

• Family
• Financial
Problems

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 General Environment
• Economic uncertainties
• War or the threat of war
• Threat of terrorism
• Long commutes in rush hour traffic
• Unrelenting rain
• Oppressive heat or chilling cold

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-36

 Managing Stress
• Exercise
• Follow good diet habits
• Know when to pull back
• Put stressful situation into perspective
• Find someone who will listen
• Establish some structure to your life
• Recognize your own limitations
• Be tolerant
• Pursue outside diversions
• Avoid artificial control

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-37

 Burnout
• Individuals lose sense of basic purpose
and fulfillment of work
• Costs: reduced productivity, higher
turnover
• Individuals in helping professions seem to
be most susceptible to burnout
• Danger: It is contagious!

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-38

 Trends & Innovations: Paying You
to Be Healthy
• Health insurance costs appear to be out of
control
• Noodles & Co. unique way
• Fitness Bucks rewards employees $100
for each of three basic wellness goals
• Physical and dental exam, follow a regular
exercise program, and quit smoking

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-39

 Wellness Programs

• Traditional view that health is dependent

on medical care and is simply absence of
disease is changing
• Optimal health can be achieved through
environmental safety, organizational
changes, and healthy lifestyles
• Firm conducts needs assessment to find
appropriate health needs
• Chronic lifestyle diseases are much more
prevalent today than ever before
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-40
Physical Fitness Programs
• Most commonly
offered in-house
corporate wellness
programs involve
efforts to promote
exercise and fitness
• Reduce absenteeism,
accidents, sick pay

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-41

 Substance Abuse
• Involves use of illegal substances or
misuse of controlled substances such as
alcohol and drugs
• 40% of workplace fatalities and 47% of
workplace injuries are related to alcohol
consumption
• Half of those who test positive for drugs in
the workplace report using drugs on a
daily basis
© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-42
Substance Abuse Free Workplace

Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988

requires some Federal contractors
and all Federal grantees to agree that
they will provide drug-free workplaces
as a condition of receiving a contract
or grant from a Federal agency

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-43

Steps for Establishing a Substance
Abuse Free Workplace

Establish a Drug and Alcohol Free Policy

Provide Education and Training

Implement a Drug-Testing Program

Create an Employee Assistance Program

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-44

 Signs of Possible Substance Abuse
• Excessive absenteeism
• Radical mood swings
• Decline in personal appearance
• Smell of alcohol or other physical evidence of substance abuse
• Accident proneness and multiple workers’ compensation claims
• Lack of coordination
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation. Alcohol, marijuana, and
opioids can cause fatigue. Cocaine, amphetamines, and
hallucinogens can cause anxiety.
• Thought disturbances. Cocaine, alcohol, PCP, amphetamines, and
inhalants often cause grandiosity or a sense of profound thought
• Other indicators. Cocaine, PCP and inhalants can cause aggressive
or violent behavior. Alcohol and other sedatives reduce inhibition.
Marijuana increases appetite, whereas stimulants decrease it. Both
types of drugs cause excessive thirst.

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-45

Employee Assistance Programs
(EAP)

Comprehensive approach that many

organizations have taken to deal
with numerous problem areas such
as burnout, alcohol and drug abuse,
and other emotional disturbances

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-46

 Employee Assistance Programs
(EAP) (Cont.)
• Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires
access to EAPs for federal employees and
employees of firms with government
contracts
• Primary concern is getting employees to
use program

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-47

 Smoke-Free Workplaces
• Secondhand smoke can increase risk of cancer
• Workplace smoking is not only hazardous to
employees’ health, but also detrimental to firm’s
financial health
• Some states ban smoking in workplace
• Some business owners have taken a personal
stand against smoking
• Some reject employment applications on
grounds would-be employee is a smoker

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-48

 A Global Perspective: Global
Safety Programs

• Global companies continue to face global

safety risks
• Shift to a single safety management
system that applies to all their operations
throughout the world
• Easier to teach someone the company
global standards than the local mores

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-49

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 11-50